Coober Pedy, SA
Coober Pedy is a place that’s always intrigued me, but until recently I’d never actually set foot in the entire state of South Australia. Pretty pathetic considering I grew up the son of a Truck driver, when you think about it.
Primarily known for being the source of much of the world’s Opals, Coober Pedy’s also intriguing because of the sheer number of buildings that are built into the hills. I’ve long toyed with the idea, simply because being underground protects you from the effects of the weather to a huge extent, and this place is pretty much built around the idea.
We blew right by it on the way up, so there wasn’t much to see. On the way back, since we were coming back empty, we decided to stop and take a look around, despite the fact the van’s playing up. It’s a sight to see, I’ll say that much… Take one of the local churches for example:
I’m not religious in any shape way or form, but even this little church was quite moving really. It was almost eerily quiet being underground.
Some parts of the town are not as interesting - there’s quite a bit more conventional housing than I’d expected, along with what can only be described as an over-representation of slums for such a tiny town.
At the moment I’m in absolutely no hurry to go back, but I’m not sure how much of that just might be the fact that the van threatened to leave us stranded there.
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Coober Pedy SA 5723, AustraliaNavigation: Older Entry Newer Entry